Ewwww... pinecam.com summary info. Rich Harvey seems like a straight shooter and it ain't his first rodeo.

Quote:

4:00 UPDATE:

Crews are increasing and widening the fire lines to prevent any spreading over the weekend. Power is being restored in the area. It is still spotty, however.

Mark Techmayer - Jefferson County

Things went well - we had a great day - holding at 70% containment. Evacuation zones have not changed. The search for Ann Appel continues search and rescue teams have hit another 150 acres today. IREA, when the fire started, had 267 homes that were without power - 211 homes have been restored with 56 left to go.

Nine patrol cars escorted approximately 30 property owners back in to see their homes and that will continue tomorrow as well.

The distressing news is that the weather forecast just changed. It will be windier and warmer sooner in the day tomorrow than originally thought.

RICH HARVEY - Incident commander -
There is still a threat for the SW winds to push the fire to the NE into the areas that are evacuated. There have been "100's of thousands" of spot fires. We have been cutting line, mopping up and focusing on infrared aerial flights at night. We are watching for heat signatures from the air and then verifying that information with crews on the ground.

The winds will be increasing in speed, the relative humidity will be dropping and the temperatures will be rising - bringing us to a return to the conditions that started this situation and could trigger extreme fire behavior. Troops are on the ground and ready to go should something develop.

70% is not 100% and 100% is not a guarantee. There is a south facing brush slope and we are keeping a very close eye on fuel- topography and winds on that edge - that is our big concern. The last lick is always the hardest. The easy part has been done - the tough part remains.

The winds on Saturday will help us find any spots we have missed. Getting through that will assist toward containment - we will then feel comfortable that the containment lines will hold despite the winds.

Sunday is supposed to be worse than Saturday - red flag warning - sustained winds of over 25 mph. It is in the forecast - it is not happening now.

We are comfortable with the resources that we have. Their focus and shift assignments may change as we prepare for the wind event - we have about 500 troops out working right now.